


Green Eyes and Missed Clues

by icywind



Series: Lepidoptera [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Jealous Phil Coulson, M/M, Oblivious Phil Coulson, Pre-Slash, Protective Bobbi Morse, Really Phil - she's not that impressed by your obliviousness, Wingfic, especially if it might hurt Clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 12:46:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3851467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icywind/pseuds/icywind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil really shouldn't be jealous of how comfortable Clint still is with Bobbi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green Eyes and Missed Clues

Phil was already beginning to loosely debrief Barton after his latest mission as they made their way through the hanger. While he was Barton’s primary handler, he was still used by other handlers at times, like when Phil was busy on another assignment and a time sensitive op came up. McGuiness was one of the best of the bunch, but he would have his hands full debriefing the other two members of the team, especially with one in medical. Phil was simply doing him a favor and wasn’t, at all, just trying to confirm Barton was healthy and okay. 

“Clint!,” came a cry from a corner of the hanger, and suddenly Bobbi Morse was throwing her arms around him. Despite the fact she was a little taller than him, Barton still easily managed to lift her off her feet in a tight hug as he murmured his greetings. 

Phil tuned it out as the two exchanged minor chit-chat, though he did note with some irrational annoyance that they were still touching as they spoke. His annoyance spiked, however, when Bobbi spun Barton around and made a tsking noise when she caught sight of his wings. She captured his gaze for a second then trailed her fingers, feather light, over one of the frayed edges. 

Despite the fact that he was supposed to have been eyes-up-high only, Barton had joined in on the fight that had put Ramirez into medical. 

Phil couldn’t help but notice that no scales had come off on Bobbi’s fingers and jealousy swelled inside him. Even after the divorce Clint still cared for her enough, trusted and felt comfortable enough to not only let her touch, but also to not shed his scales. His body recognized her as safe. Even Dr. Parmida, who Clint trusted the most of the entirety of the medical staff, was still shed on. Some part of Clint hadn’t accepted her. Most people had at least two or three doctors they fully accepted. Leave it to Clint to be the odd man out again. And it seemed like he still accepted Bobbi.

“You’re not going to go to medical for this, are you?”

Barton shuffled a little and ducked his head, muttering a ‘sure’ that sounded anything but an affirmation. 

“C’mere,” she sighed, turning him a little again as she pulled a bottle from a pouch on her belt. Lowering herself into a crouch, she pressed a delicate hand to one side of the injured wing to serve as a support as she sprayed a mixture of wing-regenerative & liquid bandage on it; then repeated the process from the other side as well. “There – that should help,” she said, straightening back up and squeezing Barton’s shoulder. “Sorry for the interruption, Sir,” she said to Phil. “You know how he is.”

“Yes, I do. And you saved me an unproductive trip to medical with him.” Bobbi’s face did something odd for a moment, then she handed him the bottle.

“Here, take this, I need to replenish a few things anyway and he’ll need more applied tomorrow probably.”

Phil looked from her, to the bottle, to Barton (who was carefully studying the floor) and thanked her with no small amount of confusion. How she expected him to apply it to Barton he had no idea. Clint’s shoulder’s tightened at that and Bobbi’s lips pursed in annoyance very briefly before she went completely blank.

“Well then, sorry for the interruption. I have to go get cleaned up and checked out and debrief with Sitwell. Coulson,” she nodded to him. “Clint – be well,” she gripped his shoulder again and gave him a look Phil couldn’t quite read.

“It’s fine, sir,” Barton said, jaw clenching, as they started walking again. “I’ll just go to medical tomorrow. I promise.”

“That really would be the best course of action,” Phil agreed, completely ignoring the look passing over Barton’s face as he plowed on talking, “Aside from the wings, I’d feel better if you had a checkup, just in case of internal injuries.”

“Yeah. Okay. Sure.” 

And if Barton held himself stiffer during the elevator ride and debrief in Phil’s office, Phil didn’t say anything. Nor did he comment on the fact that Barton excused himself and never returned like he normally would for a decompression snack and nap. 

He’d probably found some other way or some other person to unwind with.

And if that made Phil’s wings twitch in irritation, well, his cactus would keep his secret.

 

  


 

[](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/icywind/media/bfly/bobbiwingssm.jpg.html)

**Author's Note:**

> Bobbi's wings are based on a Heliconius butterfly. Specifically (I think) a Heliconius Sapho/Sapho Longwing (having not seen it hatch from a labeled chrysalis I'm just guessing). I really love the inky/oil on water look to the iridescent sheen (if you don’t catch it right in the light it only looks black & white - this pic took a few tries). It feels changeable, like Bobbi. :)
> 
> In the context of this story the idea that how a person feels about another person will affect their skin chemistry and their wings and how they react to being touched is delved into. Touching a person’s wings is taboo, but I’ve taken it a step further. A person’s wings will actually react differently to who the person is that is touching them - be it a doctor, a family member, a lover. Bobbi is still family to Clint, he’s fine with her touching him (his father, on the other hand, would not be allowed to touch were he still alive – Clint would shed his scales like mad – blood is not important here, it’s how Clint feels about the person.) He’d be fine with Phil too, but Phil’s too wrapped up in consent and not wanting to overstep with Clint to even try it (admirable things, obviously, albeit frustrating for us shippers).


End file.
